Everything was going well. They had found the Elements of Harmony and they were all returned to normal. Their enemy thought nothing of it, only yawned on his red and black throne as Twilight powered up her spell. Light illuminated the six ponies as they were lifted into the air. It was the same as when they had defeated Nightmare Moon, until more light shot from their necklaces.
"What's this?" Discord said in wonder.
Fluttershy had sworn to close her eyes, but opened one for a moment. Even through the bright light, she could clearly see the draconequus' face. She recognized it as pure fear.
"No," he uttered.
The pegasus couldn't stand it anymore and shut her eye again, as Twilight opened hers, revealing them to be white. As a rainbow shot from their bodies, Fluttershy heard the creature's horrifying scream. She tried to block it out, but it was useless. That scream would forever haunt her.
When the blast was over, the friends gently floated to the ground. Ponyville was back in order, but there was something that wasn't right. Pinkie was the first to notice.
"Hey, where's Discord?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Don't you know, Pinkie? We turned him to stone."
"I know that, but where's his statue?"
The others looked around.
"She's right," Applejack said. "Where is he?"
"I don't understand," Twilight lamented. "That spell should have turned him to stone!"
Fluttershy gasped. "We didn't kill him, did we?!"
"I don't think so. He'd still be here."
"Unless we vaporized him!" Pinkie Pie shrieked. "Or turned him to grass!"
Rarity yelped and stood on her back legs. "You mean we may be walking on him?!"
Rainbow and Fluttershy leapt into the air in horror.
"Guys, we didn't kill him!" Applejack assured them, but then turned nervously to the purple unicorn. "Right, Twilight?"
"We shouldn't have," Twilight replied. "The Elements of Harmony cannot destroy. They may work in mysterious ways, but they cannot destroy. Whatever they did to Discord, they at least returned everything to normal."
"So what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.
"We must inform Princess Celestia about this."
A few hours later in Canterlot, the six ponies told the princess all that had happened. After hearing this, Celestia demanded to speak with Twilight in private.
"We didn't kill him, did we?" she asked once they were alone.
Celestia shook her head. "It is not in the Elements' power to do such a deed."
"Princess, what do they do exactly? I mean they banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, but then later changed her back to good. Why did they turn Discord into stone?"
"The Elements' job is to restore balance in the land. It is complicated, but basically what they do is turn something into what it is on the inside. The first time they were used on Luna, she had darkness in her heart and that's what banished her to the moon. The second time, there was something good inside her that wanted to get out and that's what turned her back into my little sister. Discord, however..." She trailed off and looked at said creature's picture in the stain glass. "His heart is as cold as stone."
"Does he even have one?" Twilight inquired.
"Every creature has a heart, though some of them refuse to show it."
"So what did the elements do to him now?"
She paused. "Nothing."
The unicorn's eyes widened. "What?"
"Nothing. He escaped before the spell hit him."
Twilight was astonished. "But...but...I restored everyone's memories! Ponyville, it's fine now! The Elements should have worked!"
"They did, and Discord saw that. He saw that he could not break apart your friendship with the others, so he chose to be a coward and fled."
"How...how do you know that's what happened?"
"I know Discord. He's smart enough to know when to flee."
"So he's still out there? We have to find him! Equestria's not safe as long as he's free!"
"No, he knows not to make another attempt to takeover, not without time to contemplate his next move. When he does, that's when we take action."
"But what if...?"
"Twilight Sparkle, we do not know where Discord is. The only thing we can do is to wait for him to come out of hiding. When he does, I want you and your friends to be ready. Do you understand?"
She opened her mouth to protest, but then sighed and nodded.
"Good. Now, I will leave the Elements with you, so you will be ready when the time comes. But first, I will cast a spell protecting them, so Discord cannot take them again."
Twilight nodded again. "I understand, Princess."
So the six ponies went back home and waited for Discord's return. They each wore their Elements at all times for precaution. For weeks, they waited in agitation for their enemy to make his attack. They told no pony else that the Spirit of Chaos had escaped, for Celestia did not want her subjects to panic. It was because of this that the friends went about their daily routines as if there was nothing to worry about, but they each slept with one eye open, all except Fluttershy, who slept with two.
Soon the days turned into weeks, then months, until after a year, the ponies assumed Discord had left Equestria for good. They began feeling more at ease, with a few exceptions. Twilight became more and more worried each day and studied divination, in hopes of finding their enemy's location. So far, she had had no such luck.
Fluttershy spent nights waking up with a scream, after experiencing a nightmare where the monster had her in his clutches. Of all the frightening creatures she had encountered in her lifetime, she had never been as afraid as she was of Discord. Even though she had not seen him in a while, he still haunted her. Everywhere she turned his yellow and red eyes were there, staring into her soul. Sometimes he would appear as three butterflies, or as his stained glass image. Whatever form he took, it felt like he was always there, watching her.
She told her friends of this, but they said it was purely her imagination. This did not take any of the nightmares away.
Then Twilight became a princess, which turned every pony's life around. While Twilight was still living in Ponyville, she spent most of her time in Canterlot or elsewhere performing royal duties. As for her other five friends, they were all famous after saving Equestria numerous times and being friends of a princess.
Rarity's designs became more popular than ever. She had so many orders to keep up with, that she had to hire help. Her sister Sweetie Belle had little talent in sewing, but did what she could to organize everything. Her friend Apple Bloom proved to have a greater knowledge of design and Rarity was so impressed that she made the young filly her apprentice. Even Scootaloo provided assistance, by making deliveries with her scooter.
Rainbow Dash's dream finally came true and was recruited by the Wonderbolts. With them, she traveled all over Equestria, performing her tricks and earning the praise she adored. She still made time for her friends and offered them tickets whenever they were in town. Pinkie Pie attended all the shows and derbies and was Rainbow's biggest fan.
While keeping her job at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie kept a party planning service in Canterlot. Whenever there was a special event, the royals called her. Not only did she always throw the best of parties, but she did it for free. She did not care for money, only fun!
When making visits to Twilight in Canterlot, Applejack would take the opportunity to sell her apples. They were much more appreciated once every pony heard they were grown in the princess's hometown. As a result, Applejack earned a lot of money and not only managed to buy a tractor for Big Macintosh and fix Granny Smith's broken hip, but added a new floor to the barn, so whenever her relatives visited, they could stay the night. Whatever money was left was donated to the Canterlot Orphanage. Because of this, the orphans looked up to her. She also became a fan favorite at the rodeo competitions, whether she won a blue ribbon or not. Her athleticism was much admired and cowboy attire was made fashionable, thanks to Rarity.
In their new glamorous and comfortable lifestyles, the ponies slowly forgot about Discord altogether. Every pony was happy, save one.
Once the six were known to the public, many stallions began taking interest in Fluttershy, who had turned out to be a great beauty. She received a lot of gentlemen callers now, but she refused all of them. Although she was of marriageable age now, the pegasus was not ready for such a thing, let alone dating. She had gained more confidence over the years, but the idea of romance terrified her. Having a boyfriend meant spending time with a single stallion that might be the one or might not. She knew he would be doing most of the talking, and asking, and touching, etc. She was not prepared for that.
She continued having the nightmares. The evil face of the draconequus would not leave her mind. She knew he was still out there, and he would come back to turn her nasty again. Despite the good fortune of her friends, she could not move on. She attended social events for their sake, but wallowed in fear when alone.
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was studying and learning more about magic and being a princess each day. She took pleasure in it, but sometimes, she would look out the window and wonder about her enemy in hiding. It had been almost three years since he had vanished without a trace. Where was he? What had he been doing all this time? When was he going to strike?
No pony knew.
Nice first chapter
My interest has been peeked.
*Grabs a plate of hotpockets and a case of mountain dew*
Comence reading.
gentlemen should be gentlecolts or something in that vein due to the fact this is an MLP story
Never read or really thought about any FlutterCord fics... This shall be interesting
fuuka.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0270/96/1378629710029.jpg
Not sure if pinkie dash or rainbow pie....
Ppffhhhttttt
(Great story you got here,)
You have no idea how happy I felt when you mentioned Once Upon A Time.
Love it so much!
Just gotta love the chapter when they kiss...
so romantic.
Good job!
Is the episode in once upon a time a rumple and belle episode??!!!!!!!
If it is ill squeak like fluttershy
Although she was of marriageable age now, the pegasus was not ready for such a thing, let alone dating.
-Might work better as "or even dating".
Don't mean to be a grammar natzi or whatever but I noticed this: she had had no such luck.
Two had's as you can see. Great sorry by the way!
... *coughSombracough*. pardon me.
(yes, I know this was probably before that, but i was making a joke. sue me.)
5277810 The elements weren't used on Sombra. That was the power of the Crystal Heart and Cadence.
5284794 and both have the same job restore harmony the heart killed sombra so why not discord ( who by the way is the best villain in this show )
Once upon a time... Belle and Rumplestinskin?
4816432 thanx 4 posting this video. i <3 b.o.d
So, with Daughter of Discord getting its audio drama adaptation, I thought it was high time I came back and re-read this series to get myself caught. Sadly, given it's a second reading, particularly in this chapter, I'm now noticing several things that bug me.
1) Celestia's explanation of what the elements do doesn't make any sense. Darkness in her heart wouldn't send her to the moon, it would trap her in a Black hole or banish to deep space, you know actually dark places or something connected to darkness. If Luna had something good trying to get out, that would be true of both occasions, not just the second. Nightmare Moon was never pure evil, just jealous and angry. I go with Celestia, being only one pony trying to use objects powered by friendship, simply not being able to draw enough power to cleanse Luna so they did the next best thing and trapped her until ponies appeared who could get the job done proper. Discord, neither in this story, nor in the show has ever been portrayed as a "heart of stone" type of guy. Cold-hearted yes, but that's different.
2) They only waited a year, for an immortal who spent a thousand years in stone, before most of them stopped wearing their elements at all times. I'm sorry, but I can't believe the Mane 6 would ever be that stupid, I'd almost say they deserved to lose after that. Celestia calling Discord a coward for avoiding being turned to stone is funny. It was literally the only option he had, retreat or be turned to stone. Living to fight another day when you had lost is being smart, not cowardly. Or as Cosmos would say "There is a difference between bravery and recklessness."
Still a good story though and I can't wait to re-experience the story that pretty much got me into this fandom.
5623080 nicknamed rumple.
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!
6321847
Dark side of the moon ;) and then there's the not so dark side
Have you ever considered making a print run?
whoo go sweden
This sounds really good so far. I can't wait to read more.
What I'm wondering is why in tarturus Fluttershy is still being haunted by Discords image after so many years.
I mean, really?
"1 year later" and I would have pulled that weed out my garden, and tossed it in with the thorns and roses I kept out back.
What the? What am I doing back at this story? Certainly has nothing to do with the fact I just got done re-watching the first 4 seasons of the show, the first 2 Equestria Girls movies and definitely not because I recently saw the live-action Beauty and the Beast () and it got me thinkin about this story again and I decided to finally read the whole thing again. Definitely not.
Honestly Fluttershy's fear in this almost seems OOC now as the thought of Discord winning enraged her, it didn't scare her. Hell Princess Luna scared her more on Nightmare Night. Speaking of which if the elements can't destroy in this story,what happened to the dark energy that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon? As Tyrion Lannister would say did it just vanish in a puff of smoke? Something you could potentially use if you're planning any more stories in this universe.
By the way how did Rainbow become a Wonderbolt? Not exactly the type of thing you can just have happen without explanation. Applejack got a prequel one-shot to explain how she fell for Spike. Something similar for Rainbow would be nice.
Also i don't care how much she enjoys making ponies smile or what kind of fantasy world they live in. There is no way Pinkie can fund her own parties on a baker's salary and not charge for the party, she'd be broke quicker than she can say "Okie Dokie Lokie" though that would be a funny scene because I hate Pinkieand it wipe that irritating grin off her face. Maud Pie is awesome though.
Lol good thing discord isn't a pony cause he knows when he is going to struck
Btw this is my 4th time reading this series!!! Can't get enuff
I have been in the fandom for quite a long time, but I have not read this yet.
I can't give a review based on just this prologue, but the premise is interesting enough.
Cool cool. Lots of potential.
Well, I didn't take you for a Oncer dearie.
I have to say, with that in mind, I can absolutely see the influence. I confess I only watched the show up to season 4, or at least halfway through. But yeah, that relationship is one of my favorites from the series.
Ohh man that is like the worst case of PTSD
Hey before season 6 came around a lot of people always make stories about her finally making it in which we all wanted that for her but when that episode came around in season 6 I was so happy for that
It took me a very long time to get to the story ever since YouTube notification and everything it's a very long overdue but I finally get the chance to read it but anyway it looks like Twilight and the others use the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord into stone but when the beam hit him he was nowhere around and Fluttershy was very worried that he will come back Twilight talk with Princess Celestia and apparently she knew that Discord Escape and Twilight was pretty worried that he will come back but Celestia we assure her that he won't do anything not for a long time but Twilight and her friends needs to keep their eyes open for him after season 3 finale Twilight became an alicorn and everybody's life has become different throughout the years and Fluttershy been getting a lot of nightmares of Discord and every time she tried to sleep she sees him it's been really hard for her and not only that a lot of ponies really starting to like her but she doesn't know how romantic is maybe someday she will find somebody out there but right now she's just doesn't feel comfortable the question is where did Discord go